Fourth seed Dominic Thiem slumped to a defeat in the first round of French Open for the very first time on Sunday.
Thiem, one of the pre-tournament favourites, went down 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 4-6 to World No 68 Pablo Andujar in the first round at Roland Garros.
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Andujar had beaten Roger Federer at the Geneva Open a couple of weeks ago.
"I still hope I can bounce back stronger than before” –@ThiemDomi #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/LU2YxS7Thw
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2021
It is the first time the Spaniard has successfully fought back from two sets down and it earned him the 150th tour-level match-win of his career.
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“It’s very special for me, to achieve this at 35 years old, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to play,” an elated Andujar told the French crowd on court after claiming his first top-five win.
“This win is a real gift.”
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Two-time French Open finalist Thiem has been struggling for form since winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Kerber ousted
Former world number one Angelique Kerber’s poor record at the French Open got no help on Sunday when the German was knocked out in the first round by Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina.
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She bowed out with a 6-2 6-4 defeat for her third first-round loss in a row on the Paris dirt.
“She started well and had nothing to lose, while it took me too long to get into the contest,” Kerber said afterwards.
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In her last six tries she has failed to make it past the opening round on five occasions.
Retired hurt
Grigor Dimitrov, the 16th seed, was forced to retire due to injury on Sunday.
Dimitrov, who held three match points in the third set, quit at 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 0-3 against American Marcos Giron.
